Mick Cronin has a point, but the shot he has taken looks like an airball.

In underscoring the obvious -- that college basketball is a business -- the University of Cincinnati's outspoken coach has overstepped his actual knowledge and impugned the integrity of the people tasked with building the bracket for the NCAA tournament.

“I’m a firm believer in that the NCAA tournament committee and everything is so financially driven that no matter what is said on that Sunday, they’re trying to sell tickets," Cronin told reporters. "So you may get moved a seed line, and it may not be us, but teams could get moved around from a 4 to a 5 or an 8 and 9 out of that to a 7-10 to get that pod to sell more tickets.

"Now nobody will admit that, because it's all about the student-athletes -- supposedly. But it's a business. If it wasn't a business, we'd be able to have a bus trip in the conference we played in. ... Anyone who thinks this isn’t a business is wrong, living in a fantasy land.”

If college basketball were not a business, Cronin would not be in the midst of a seven-year contract that pays him a base salary of $2.2 million and has earned him $10,000 bonuses for his 21st, 23rd and 25th wins of the 2016-17 season. Still, it's a Jordanesque leap to suggest that because college basketball is a business, the NCAA selection committee must be manipulating its seeding process to ensure optimum attendance.

Running a business does not automatically mean that you have to cheat your customers or your clients, no more than it necessarily follows that a basketball coach paid for his services must be cutting corners in recruiting.

To suggest that the people charged with assessing the relative strengths of tournament teams are motivated by anything other than objective analysis is to subscribe to the same kind of inane conspiracy theories that thrive on fan message boards and barstools. To make such an allegation without providing proof is to indulge in reckless cynicism.

"Mick's assertion that this was fact is not true," NCAA Vice President Dan Gavitt told ESPN. "When (seeds were changed) in the past, it was for separating conference opponents, not ticket sales."

Gavitt says not a single team's seed line has been changed since 2014, when the NCAA revised its bracketing principles to allow teams from the same league to meet as early as the second round. If Mick Cronin has evidence to the contrary, he should present it. If not, he should apologize.

In the interests of business as usual, here follow the week's Top 10 sports quotes:

10. Dan Quinn, Atlanta Falcons head coach, on processing the Super Bowl: “The analogy I’ve used for my team is we’re fighters. For those who cover our team on a regular basis, you know we talk about boxing quite a bit. We got our ass knocked down on the canvas. You get back up and you go fight again. That’s kind of what this offseason is about for us.” (NFL combine media session)

9. Pete Carroll, Seattle Seahawks coach, on the importance of observation in scouting: “We watch everything, and I always tell our guys, it’s because of what Bud (Grant) taught me a long time ago. Everything counts. Everything shows us something. How they dress or don’t dress, who they hang with, if they’re respectful, if they brush somebody off or throw their trash on the ground. If you look, there’s a lot of stuff going on. There’s something in all of it, and it’s not always what they think they’re telling you.” (Sirius XM)

8. Michael Phelps, Olympic swimmer, on drug testing: “I don’t believe that I’ve stood up at international competitions and the rest of the field has been clean. I don’t believe that. I don’t think I’ve ever felt that. I know that when I do stand up in the U.S., I know we’re all clean because we’re going through the same thing. Internationally, I think there has to be something done, and it has to be done now.” (Congressional testimony)

7. Milorad Cavic, Olympic swimmer, on Phelps’ testimony: “Why you’re seeking reform now that you’re retired, and never before supported blood passports, is beyond us all, perhaps even convenient. I’m not suggesting you’re a cheat. You’ve gradually improved your times throughout your career, but your recovery rate is nothing short of science fiction. … We all just wished we could understand it.” (Instagram)

6. Tim Tebow, New York Mets' prospect, on his global ambitions: "You know what I think would be awesome? If I could adopt a kid from every continent. I think that would be a pretty cool goal. I want to sit around the dinner table every night and see kids from Africa, Asia, Europe, South America, right here in the States. How cool would that be? It's one of my favorite things to dream about." (People)

5. Kurt Busch, NASCAR driver, on winning the Daytona 500: "The more that becomes unpredictable about Daytona, the more it becomes predictable to predict unpredictability. This car's completely thrashed. There's not a straight panel on it. The strategy today, who knew what to pit when, what segments were what. Everybody's wrecking as soon as we're done with the second segment. The more that I've run this race, the more that I just throw caution to the wind, let it rip and just elbows out. That's what we did." (Press conference)

4. LaVar Ball, father of UCLA freshman guard Lonzo, on the NBA draft: “Lonzo should be No. 1 because he’s the only player in the draft that can make everybody else around him better. You can see that with UCLA. Why shouldn’t he be No. 1? He’s earned it. Nobody else is playing like him. Nobody else is doing what he’s doing. He’s selling out arenas. He’s making all his players better. Why wouldn’t he be No. 1? How do you start your franchise without that guy?” (ESPN)

3. Phil Mickelson, professional golfer, on the impact of Tiger Woods: “When I won the Tucson Open, the purse was $1 million. The entire purse. First place was $180,000. I remember thinking in the mid-90s, ‘I wonder if someday we’ll play for a $1 million first-place check? I don’t know. Probably not in my lifetime, but I hope we do.’ Here we are every week, a million-plus first-place check. That’s due to Tiger.” (Feherty)

2. Bryce Harper, Washington Nationals’ 24-year-old outfielder, on the younger generation: “The biggest thing that bothers me with these young kids is that they don’t know the tradition of the game. They don’t know Willie Mays, Jackie Robinson, Mickey Mantle, George Brett, Ken Griffey Jr. There are kids that don’t even know about Junior, and that’s absurd to me.” (USA TODAY)

1. James Harden, Houston Rockets star, on disentangling himself from Khloe Kardashian: “I didn’t like all the attention. I feel like it was for no reason. I wasn’t getting anything out of it except my name out there and my face out there, and I don’t need that. It wasn’t uncomfortable, but it wasn’t me. I don’t need pictures of myself when I’m driving my car. Who cares? What shoes am I wearing? Who cares? Where am I eating? Who cares? It was unnecessary stuff that I think trickled down to my teammates. I had to eliminate that.” (Sports Illustrated)